Formation of Topological Defects
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
2007-05-23 v1 Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
In these lectures, I review cosmological phase transitions and the topological aspects of spontaneous symmetry breaking. I then discuss the formation of walls, strings and monopoles during phase transitions including lattice based studies of defect formation and recent attempts to go beyond the lattice. The close connection of defect formation with percolation is described. Open problems and possible future directions are mentioned.
Cite
@article{arxiv.hep-ph/9710292,
title = {Formation of Topological Defects},
author = {Tanmay Vachaspati},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-ph/9710292},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
34 pages, 7 figures. Based on lectures at ICTP, Summer School on Cosmology, July 1997.